Playmaker

Happy book birthday to Playmaker by Deanna Faison @deannafaisonbooks you can get this spicy sports romance today!!

I am going to be honest, I don't read a lot of sports romance books but there was something about the synopsis of this book that piqued my interest!!

Maddie is pre-med and Cameron is on his way to the NFL and happens to be Maddie's brother's best friend... He is the epitome of off limits but the sizzle between them can't be tamed and they spend their vacation time hooking up in secret, things get right off course for both of them.

I like Maddie. I don't normally like characters that have the kind of personality she does but you can tell she is really sweet under the facade. She has always had feelings for Cam and he hurt her once so you can see why she comes across so standoffish in the beginning. Don't even get me started on Cam. I felt my palms start to sweat right from the get go. He is a total F*$k boy but you know you wouldn't say no and those men.... Walking red flags but you know you gonna dip your toe in. I feel like you weren't supposed to like him because he is a total dog but you can tell he was doing it to fill a void.

The spice was CHEFS KISS perfect for me. Plus the book is loaded with all your favorite tropes.

Friends to lovers CHECK
Forbidden Love CHECK
Sport romance DOUBLE CHECK
Brother's best friend CHECKKKKKKK

This book is pretty much Cam and Maddie fighting and F-ing with some cutesy moments in between. I could have used more of their childhood, I felt like it missed an opportunity to really round the story out. There is a TW in this book for me. A photo of a teen passed around... It bothered me so it might bother you.

I enjoyed the dual POV and all in all I quite enjoyed the book. It is exactly what it states to be, there isn't a massive amount of depth so don't go looking for the meaning of like in the pages. If you want a sexy novel with some good banter, grab this one today.

4 stars

Thank you @wattpad for my gifted copy

The only good thing about this book was the cover.

What do you mean that in the description you say that the female main character USED TO have a crush on the guy but she's over it, but ON THE FIRST PAGE SHE GETS BUTTERFLIES WHEN SHE LOOKS AT HIM??? That's not “being over someone”. That's literally the opposite! Why do you market the book like that when it's not what the book is about? Seriously! It's an asshole move.

Speaking of assholes, Cameron was horrible. So cocky and icky and CREEPY. Oh, he told her to get lost but now he's acting like nothing happened? And it feels like Maddie has literally no self control and no agency at all because when he says jump, she asks how high. Oh, she “hates” him but still sleeps with him willingly and can't even think straight. Seriously? How are you even attracted to him if you hate him that much?

And I hated how controlling he was. Literally the first party she went to and he starts criticising her for TALKING to a guy while he almost fucked a girl in the guest room of her house??? For fucks sake. What a red flag. And it really annoys me that has mother dying is used to justify his assholish behaviour. “Trauma” doesn't give someone a free pass to be a dickhead.

And honestly, I'm over books where the brother thinks he has any say in whether or not his best friend is seeing his sister. Why is it such a popular trope?

The book felt like it was written by a 14 year old wattpad writer and not in a good way. I had to dnf it around 20%. It was that bad.